The present invention relates generally as indicated to a landing gear mechanism which is especially adapted to permit high performance aircraft to operate on relatively rough runways.
Typically landing gears for high performance aircraft such as operated by the military are not designed to operate on rough runways made rough, for example, as a result of temporary repairs to bomb damaged areas and the like. If such an aircraft were to land on a rough runway, considerable damage and possible collapse of the landing gear could be incurred either during landing or as a result of the aircraft rolling over the rough runway surface.
One reason why rough runways are so potentially damaging to the landing gear of high performance military aircraft is that in order for the gear to be effective at heavy take-off weight, the shock strut stroke of the gear during landing may not be adequate to absorb the required amount of landing energy to prevent damage to the gear when landing on rough runways. Also, after the landing emergy stroke is complete, high damping loads may take place as the landing gear strut negotiates bumps.
High stresses on the landing gear will also result when the tires fall into holes or depressions in the runway. Moreover, if the gear should extend or compress too quickly, undesirable cavitation may occur during such movement.